Duffy emphasises the GAA's reliance on Government aid

THE GAA has emerged as one of the driving forces behind the joint submission to Government on the future funding of Irish sport.

As a strictly amateur organisation, the GAA is particularly reliant on such Government funding, despite its still healthy commercial income, as was pointed out by director general Páraic Duffy at yesterday’s presentation in Dublin.

“This is a unique occasion in that virtually every sporting organisation in the country has come together with a common message,” said Duffy.

“But from a GAA perspective, this is also about the issue of community, the importance of local identity, which still has very strong and important value in Ireland.

“In the GAA alone, Government funding has been vital to help put 75,000 primary school children through GAA development programmes in Dublin, and to also run development programmes throughout our 2,610 clubs.

“So if the funding we draw down from the Sports Council is cut, it will have a hugely detrimental effect on participation.”

In the course of the presentation, it also emerged that Irish Sports Council funding has helped the GAA to get 2,700 primary schools to participate in Gaelic games initiatives, to put 300 full- and part-time personnel to work in games development with the principal objective being to drive participation, and to facilitate 3,800 participants in football schools of excellence and the qualification of some 50,000 coaches.

“Sport is in a different league in terms of the return on investment,” added Duffy. “It’s just never before had we a sophisticated vision of sport. I think with this we’re trying to develop a more sophisticated view.

“The other point to make is that these programmes have been cut already. We’ve already taken a huge hit in 2009, and we can’t afford to take a further hit or else the long-term damage would be enormous.”

In June, the Government announced the 2009 funding of €9.9 million for games development projects within the three main sporting bodies – the GAA (€3.29 million), the FAI (€3.5 million) and the IRFU (€3.07 million).

At the same time, the Sports Capital Programme, which saw around €55 million go towards the development of sporting facilities, was cut.

“We would like to see some of that coming back,” said Duffy, who added that all of the sports bodies were agreed on what was required to maintain funding and that they would be taking their message to the millions of people who both participated and watched Irish sport every week.

“Sport has a significant role to play in improving public health, contributing to the economy, building communities, driving tourism and establishing pride in Ireland both at home and abroad. Sport also has a remarkable power to make us feel good, and that is hugely important in the current difficult times.

“Every day across Ireland, thousands of people are involved in coaching, playing, volunteering and administrating sports. It is part of who we are and has a crucial role to play. We cannot underestimate the huge significance of sport in our lives. One cannot imagine Ireland as a country without sport.”

At the time of the €9.9 million announcement in June, which the GAA, FAI and IRFU have been receiving in varying amounts since 2001, Minister for Sport Cullen indicated that such levels of support would be maintained, “because the actual impact of those programmes, on every county, every village in the country, is enormous. And you can take it from me that they will be maintained. That’s my determination”.

Things, however, have changed yet again, with the economic scene considerably worse now that it was just four months ago.

But, in driving the submission to Government on funding for Irish sport, the GAA are now very much on side with the FAI and IRFU, which can only strengthen their combined position.